Ode to Laundry

I absolutely hate doing the laundry. Its #1 on my list of the most dreaded chores. Its absolutely NEVER 100% done. You can't ever stop and feel like you've accomplished some great task. When you get to the bottom of the piles, you make another round through the bedrooms and bathrooms and create another pile. When you get to the bottom of that pile, you go change into your pajamas and realize you just created another one. And on and on and on it goes.

So, as much as I HATE the laundry - I love washing machines. They are like the endorphin-releasing-appliance of the century. (Okay, of LAST century for my model :p ) I love to start the water, put the soap in, let it fill up a little bit and then put the clothes in at the last second. If I time it just right I get to be out there when the washer starts-a-swishing. I get hypnotized just staring at the clothes being moved toward the center and down and watching the water all around get a little murky like the dried-on oatmeal and dirty socks are being cleansed of their sins. Seriously, it gets me high.

Maybe that's part of the reason why I love cloth diapers so much. Sometimes if a particularly nasty diaper shows up in the pail, I'll run a wash right then and I can't help but stare and marvel at the transformation from nasty-plug-my-nose-soiled-crap-cloth to soft-cuddle-his-buns-cushy-tushy-cover! *sigh* Anyway, I still profess to hate the laundry. Folding, putting away, only to have it UNFOLDED and worn the next day and subsequently wadded in a ball and thrown in the basket. Who came up with this ritual?

SO - today was Wednesday, and in true Wednesday fashion, we had our wive's lunch. I got there early to help cook and ended up staying from 9:30 until noon.

I came home to find the man at his desk. He suggested we go check out a couple of schools nearby before picking up the kids. Since my ability to go usually depends on his availability, I jumped at the chance.

The first school was WAY too serious and WAY too much money! Yikes! We were close to giving up, but decided to stop at the only other school that is close to the house. This one is totally kid-centered. Colorful desks, wall hangings, play area and uniforms. The prices initially seems JUST out of our budget, but then she said she would give us 50% off the second child and an additional 10% off for paying it all up front. With those discounts, this newer, WAY better school ends up costing only a little more than the crapper we're sending them to now! I was WAY excited. We just have to pay half the inscription fee and they'll hold the kids' places for next year. Did I mention the best part? Its bilingual! I REALLY think that will help #1 in the friend department.

So, on that note, I may not whine about moving back to the U.S. this week. (but I can't make any promises for next week.)

On the vaccination front, I guess I'm glad after all that we ended up getting #1 and #2 caught up on their vaxxes. These schools wouldn't let them in w/out their complete records. Who knew? Guess #3 won' t be able to go to preschool when he's 3 here after all. There's no way we'll have him caught up by then, if at all.

#1 just asked me if we could name our baby Pauly if its a boy and Black Beauty if its a girl. Of course, the answer is YES! :p I have a feeling he'll forget by the time the next one comes along.